A new research project supported by Wine Australia could benefit grapegrowers and vineyard managers dealing with broken or unwanted treated timber or CCA posts.
The Timber Circulatory Project – partly funded by Wine Australia – is exploring solutions for winegrowers to dispose of their vineyard posts without sending them to landfill.
Dr Penelope Mitchell, Research Fellow at the National Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life at Sunshine Coast University, is part of a team working on the Timber Circulatory Project.
Dr Mitchell said the project is investigating the potential re-use of preservative treated timber and engineered wood products within the circular economy – with a key focus on preservative-treated vineyard posts.
“The circular economy is about keeping products and materials in circulation longer,” Dr Mitchell said.
“Treating timber posts with preservatives such as CCA or creosote extends the life of timber, allowing it to remain in use for more than 30 years. However, there are currently very few end-of-life options for these posts apart from giving them away or dumping in licensed landfill.”
The Timber Circularity team is working closely with regulators, industry associations, councils and companies to develop practical solutions for recyclers, industry and grapegrowers.
A large part of the project is the collection of fundamental data on the location, volume and condition of posts, and optimising the logistics in the collection and transport. This data is critical to inform government and for businesses interested in using the posts as a resource. The project team hopes to pinpoint emerging technologies, which will allow the posts to be reused, recycled or converted to carbon storing biochar or energy.
A significant deliverable from the project is a pilot in a wine region to demonstrate the optimised collection and transport of used posts, and their reuse or recycling.
In the meantime, growers should continue to safely stockpile posts until viable solutions in their region are available.